Automatic loading device, chiefly for air-guns



Sept. 25, 1962 c s 3,055,355

AUTOMATIC LOADING DEVICE, CHIEFLY FDR AIR-GUNS Filed March 24, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENT OR BY MIA/w r/ ATTORNEY F. CRQSERA Sept. 25, 1962 AUTOMATIC LOADING DEVICE, CHIEFLY FOR AIR-GUNS Filed March 24, 196

3 Sheets-Sheei. 2

INV EN TOR. FERDINAND 6205mm BY Arrx Sept. 25, 1962 F. CROSERA 3,055,355

AUTOMATIC LOADING DEVICE, CHIEFLY FOR AIR-GUNS Filed March 24,. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR [aw/MM [mam/4 BY 5%,)? Wm ATTORNEY ite States 3,055,355 AUTOMATIC LOADING DEVICE, CHIEFLY FGR AER-GUNS Ferdinand Crosera, 47 Ave. Cap de Croix, Nice, France Filed Mar. 24, 1960, Ser, No. 17,359 (Ilaims priority, application France Mar. 27, 1959 4 Claims. (Cl. 124-51) In air-guns which are generally of the drop-down type, the missile is inserted in the gun after opening of the butt, so as to compress the air, following which the butt is closed again through a rocking in the opposite direction and it is then suflicient to act on the trigger so as to fire the gun.

Each time, it is necessary thus to take hold of a further bullet and to introduce it by hand into the barrel.

My invention has for its object an arrangement through which the positioning of each bullet in the barrel is obtained automatically by the mere rocking movement of the butt, the bullet being fed by a clip adapted to contain a varying number of bullets.

My improved arrangement is constituted as follows: a pair of lateral rods is pivotally secured to the conventional setting lever of the gun, so as to pivot in parallelism with the plane in which the butt is to rock and they are furthermore urged into angular motion by a spring and they are guided so that the ends of said rods may move longitudinally and vertically with reference to the barrel by engaging constantly the latter, while the butt is shifted in either direction. Said pair of rods serves as a longitudinal guide for a slider carrying at its rear end clamping means for holding the clip, while the front of said slider forms a slideway extending transversely with reference to the axis of the gun and inside which may be shifted, for instance by hand, a small slider or transfer member held in position by the thrust exerted by the clip, said transfer member being adapted to receive a bullet from the clip inside a laterally positioned recess, which bullet is subsequently shifted transversely by hand With the transfer member, after which the opening of the butt provides for the feeding of said bullet into registry with the gun bore. This being obtained, the termination of the opening movement of the butt produces the progression of a pusher member which is rigidly secured to a cross member secured in its turn to the rods and which then pushes the bullet into the barrel through the recess provided in the transfer member. Upon closing of the butt, the gun is ready for firing.

I have illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of my invention. In said drawings:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are two side views corresponding respectively to the closed and to the open position of the butt.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the component parts of my improved arrangement.

FIG. 4 is a view from below of certain of said component parts.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are detail cross-sectional views through lines V-V, VI-VI and VII-VII of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates the transfer member as seen from the left-hand side of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 9 and illustrate the clip respectively in plan view and cross-sectionally through line XX of FIG. 9.

In the drawings, 1 designates the barrel and 2 the butt pivotally secured to the latter along the rocking axis 3. 4 designates the two setting levers pivotally secured at 5 to the barrel. A--A designates the plane passing through the rear surface of the breech.

A pair of lateral bent rods 6 is secured to the transverse spindle 7 adapted to pivot between the twin setting levers 3,055,355 Patented Sept. 25, 1962 and Which is urged by the spring 8 into a rocking movement in the direction of the arrow 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

To the free ends of the rods *6 is rigidly secured a flat cross-member 9 which carries a pusher member 20 adapted to urge into the barrel 1 the bullet carried by the transfer member 12 described hereinafter, said cross-member being further adapted for carrying the clip C, while leaving it free to move longitudinally with reference to said cross-member.

The rods 6 carry slidingly a slider 10* constituted by a suitably shaped and folded metal sheet, said slider including a clamping section 10a adapted to engage the clip C, as clearly shown in FIG. 5 and a further section 10b, the folded edge on the front end of which forms a transverse slideway for a small slider 12 forming the transverse member shown separate in FIG. 7 and provided with a perforation or recess near each transverse end.

The transfer member 12 is urged against the barrel 1 in the following manner: the clip C is drawn forwardly by a spring 22 secured at one end to the end of the pusher member 20 carried by the stationary cross-member 9 and at its other end to the clip at 24 (FIG. 3) in a manner such that the clip, which is permanently engaged with the transfer member 12, urges the latter with the slider 11) towards the barrel.

Projections 6' on the rods '6 (FIG. 4) form abutments which limit the shifting of the slider 10 and of the transfer member 12, in particular when the butt is in its closed position.

A strap-shaped spring 13, the ends of which are wound round the rods 6, engages elastically the slider 10 under the action of the springs 11, while its bent section engages the upper surface of the barrel 1, so as to limit the pivotal movement of the rods 6 in the direction of the arrow under the action of the springs 8. When the butt is lowered, the spring 13 acting as a stop holds the slider 10 fast at a level such that one of the two recesses provided in the transfer member 12 may register with the barrel bore, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

As disclosed hereinafter, when the butt is raised into its closing position illustrated in FIG. 1, the rods 6 and the slider 10 move vertically up to a higher level, but, nevertheless, the spring 13 continues engaging the upper surface of the barrel 1, as clearly shown in FIG. 1. The spring 13 may be replaced by any other member acting similarly as an abutment.

The transversely sliding transfer member 12 is illustrated in front view in FIG. 8; its stroke inside the slider 10 is limited by the abutment of a stud 21 on the transfer member against the ends b of the upper edge of the slideway 1% (FIG. 3) and the relative positions of said abutment ends with reference to the recesses 12d and 12g in the member 12 are selected in a manner such that when one of the recesses, say 12d, registers with the barrel bore, the other recess 12g registers, at least vertically, with the corresponding compartment of the clip, and reversely. It is, of course, possible to resort to any other means limiting the travel of the transfer member.

The clip C is illustrated singly in FIGS. 9 and 10. It includes a frame made of a folded metal sheet defining longitudinal compartments 14d and 14g along its sides, said compartments being adapted to house bullets in longitudinal alignment, each line of bullets being urged forwardly by a spring 15 engaging the bottom 16 of the clip in the conventional manner. Said clip shows, however, a novel feature consisting in that the metal sheet, which is incurved, so as to form said compartments 14d and 14g, is not entirely closed and its edges 17 provide longitudinal gaps along which the corresponding compartments appear as laterally slotted.

A small cylindrical plug 18 illustrated separately in elevational and plan views in FIG. 9 may be slid into each of said compartments. Each plug is provided with a short radial projection 18 which may slide along the gap at 1'7 and engage a lateral notch 19 formed in the edge 15' of the metal sheet when it is caused to rock round its longitudinal axis. This allows holding the spring in its stressed condition and cuts out any interference of the latter during the introduction of a bullet through the front opening of a compartment.

The operation of the arrangement is as follows: when the butt is in its closed position (FIG. 1) and assuming the transfer member 12 has been previously drawn towards the right-hand side, its recess 12d lies in alignment with the compartment 14d of the clip and has received from the latter a bullet urged forwardly under the action of the corresponding spring 15.

The thin front Wall of the slideway 16b behind which the transfer member is positioned is held against the rear surface AA of the gun breech in the manner already described, but at a level above that of the barrel bore. When the butt is lowered, with reference to the barrel, its rocking in the direction of the arrow 7 (FIG. 2) first imparts to the ends of the rods 6 a translational downwardly directed motion during which the slider 10, held in position by the thrust of the clip C against the stops 6 of the rods 6, moves downwardly along the rear surface AA of the gun breech, until the spring 13 stops its movement at the moment at which the bullet housed inside the recess 12d registers with the bore in the barrel. The continued rocking movement of the butt draws then towards the right-hand side of FIG. 2 the rods 6 with their terminal cross-member 9 and the pusher member 20 carried by the latter, while the springs 11 are compressed and cannot oppose the movement of said cross-member with reference to the slider 10.

The pusher member 20 is thus urged into the recess 12d of the transfer member 12, so as to shift the bullet out of the latter and to make it enter the barrel bore. The butt is then returned into its closed position and the air-gun is ready to fire.

A shifting of the stud 21 of the transfer member 12 between the two abutments provided for it ensures the loading, in its turn, of the recess 12g in the transfer member so that a repetition of the movement of the butt in the manner disclosed precedingly provides for the feeding of a bullet out of said recess 12g into the barrel bore for the next shot.

The novelty of the arrangement resides thus in the fact that during operation the clip slides in unison with the slider 10 carrying it, so that the bullet transferred by the chip to the associated transfer member may, after transverse shifting of the latter by the marksman, be set in registry with the barrel bore, as provided by the raising of the butt shifting the system 610-12-C angularly, which leads to an elastic clamping of the sliding section 10-12C between the pusher 20 and the gun body, whereby the desired forward movement of the bullet into the gun bore is obtained.

Obviously, various detail modifications may be brought to the arrangement described, without unduly widening thereby the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims and, in particular, the different parts of the embodiment disclosed may be replaced by equivalent parts.

What I claim is:

1. In a drop-down gun firing bullets out of a clip and including a rocking butt, a gun body and a cocking lever pivotally connecting the butt with the gun body to alternatingly close and open the latter, the provision of a loading device comprising two rearwardly directed rods pivotally secured to the cocking lever, a transverse member rigidly interconnecting said rods, a slider adapted to removably carry the front end of a clip and to slide longitudinally over the rods, springs carried by the rods and urging said slider forwardly towards the rear transverse surface of the gun body, a perforated transfer member carried by the slider, facing said rear surface and adapted to slide transversely along the front end of the slider between two positions to make its perforation register respectively with the outlet of the clip and with the vertical plane passing through the bore in the gun body, the shifting of the butt into its lower gunopening position shifting through said rods the slider downwardly over the rear surface of the gun body to make the perforation in the transfer member register horizontally with the bore in the gun body, a pusher member rigid with the transverse member and facing the bore in the gun body, and a spring connecting the clip in the slider with said pusher member and urging the clip forwardly, said pusher member being moved into engagement with a bullet carried by the transfer member in its second position to shift said bullet out of the transfer member into the gun bore upon entering of the butt into its lowermost position.

2. in a drop-down gun firing bullets out of a clip and including a rocking butt, a gun body and a cocking lever pivotally connecting the butt with the gun body to alternatingly close and open the latter, the provision of a loading device comprising two rearwardly directed rods pivotally secured to the cocking lever, a transverse member rigidly interconnecting said rods, a slider adapted to removably carry the front end of a clip and to slide longitudinally over the rods, springs carried by the rods and urging said slider forwardly towards the rear transverse surface of the gun body, a perforated transfer member carried by the slider, facing said rear surface and adapted to slide transversely along the front end of the slider between two positions to make its perforation register respectively with the outlet of the clip and with the vertical plane passing through the bore in the gun body, the shifting of the butt into its lower gunopening position shifting through said rods the slider downwardly over the rear surface of the gun body to make the perforation in the transfer member register horizontally with the bore in the gun body, a pusher member rigid with the transverse member and facing the bore in the gun body, a spring connecting the clip in the slider with said pusher member, and urging the latter forwardly into engagement with a bullet carried by the transfer member in its second position to shift said bullet out of the transfer member into the gun bore upon entering of the butt into its lowermost position, and an abutment carried by the rods and engaging permanently the upper surface of the gun body to limit the downward movement of the slider along the rear surface of the gun body.

3. In a drop-down gun firing bullets out of a clip and including a rocking butt, a gun body and a cocking lever pivotally connecting the butt with the gun body to alternatingly close and open the latter, the provision of a loading device comprising two rearwardly directed rods pivotally secured to the cocking lever, a transverse member rigidly interconnecting said rods, a slider adapted to removably carry the front end of a clip and to slide longitudinally over the rods, springs carried by the rods and urging said slider forwardly towards the rear transverse surface of the gun body, a perforated transfer member carried by the slider, facing said rear surface and adapted to slide transversely along the front end of the slider between two positions to make its perforation register respectively with the output of the clip and with the vertical plane passing through the bore in the gun body, the shifting of the butt into its lower gunopening position shifting through said rods the slider downwardly over the rear surface of the gun body to make the perforation in the transfer member register horizontally with the bore in the gun body, elastic means urging the two rods downwardly into pivotal motion around their axis on the lever, a pusher member rigid with the transverse member and facing the bore in the gun body, a spring connecting the clip in the slider with said pusher member and urging the latter forwardly into engagement with a bullet carried by the transfer member in its second position to shift said bullet out of the transfer member into the gun bore upon entering of the butt into its lowermost position.

4. in a drop-down gun firing bullets out of a clip and including a rocking butt, a gun body and a cocking lever pivotally connecting the butt with the gun body to alternatingly close and open the latter, the provision of a loading device comprising two rearwardly directed rods pivotally secured to the cocking lever, a transverse member rigidly interconnecting said rods, elastic means urging the two rods downwardly into pivotal motion around their axis on the lever, a slider adapted to removably carry the front end of a clip and to slide longitudinally over the rods, springs carried by the rods and urging said slider forwardly towards the rear transverse surface of the gun body, elastic means carried by the two bars and engaging the upper surface of the gun body to serve as an abutment for the downward movement of the two bars, a perforated transfer member carried by the slider, facing said rear surface and adapted to slide transversely along the front end of the slider between two positions to make its perforation register respectively with the outlet of the clip and with the vertical plane passing through the bore in the gun body, the shifting of the butt into its lower gun-opening position shifting through said rods the slider downwardly over the rear surface of the gun body to make the perforation in the transfer member register horizontally with the bore in the gun body, a pusher member rigid with the transverse member and facing the bore in the gun body, and a spring connecting the clip in the slider with said pusher member and urging the latter forwardly into engagement with a bullet carried by the transfer member in its second position to shift said bullet out of the transfer member into the gun bore upon entering of the butt into its lowermost position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,278,438 Gerstenberger Apr. 7, 1942 2,569,995 Kapsa Oct. 2, 1951 2,572,176 Mihalyi Oct. 23, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 722,537 Germany July 11, 1942 485,350 Italy Oct. 10, 1953 

